Blog

FOCUS

03/24/2015

Author:

Anthony Brown

So, why is there so much focus on goals and goal setting? All organizations make them to inspire improvement in performance. Goals take on varying levels of overall significance depending on which level they are made within the organizational hierarchy. Sometimes there is a single goal, while other times there are many. Goals are important for challenging the status quo and its effect in our lives, but I’ve also come to realize that the process used for goal setting and achievement can yield just as many obstacles and even backsliding as it can help to make progress. This is my first installment of a 4-part series to share what I’ve learned about a process that works to promote consistent goal achievement.

FOCUS

In setting goals, some people make mental notes about what they want to achieve, while others commit to them in some written manner. While the probability of success is dictated partially by the way in which goals are set, the numberof goals being pursued at the same time is equally important a factor in that success.

Think about the last time you set a goal for you and/or your organization and how many other goals accompanied it during the same timeframe. With each additional goal being pursued, the law of diminishing returns suggests that less work will actually be accomplished to achieve any one of those goals within the set timeframe.

One example of this concept of diminishing returns is seen in the implementation of processes and technology to enable organizational change that leads you to accomplishing your goals. The projects on which we consult are often centered on the delivery of Integrated Workplace Management System (IWMS) technology over the course of many months or, in some cases, multiple years. One of the benefits of IWMS technology is having a single source of truth for corporate real estate (CRE) portfolios and their supporting people, organization and assets. However, this can also be a monumental challenge for those companies who decide to implement the processes and technology necessary to support the multiple areas of CRE management.

While it is enticing for CRE organizations to take the “big bang” approach of implementing everything at the same time, which is often met with more organizational change management pressures than what would be experienced with implementing smaller, more “bite size” groups of processes and/or functionality before moving onto the next. It is important to consider a phased approach, focusing on a manageable group of processes and/or functionality in order to increase the probability of success.

Another example of diminishing returns is the inclination of our culture to multitask, especially through the advancement of technology. Whether we’re walking/driving while being distracted with our mobile devices or we’re tending to other tasks (or even other calls) while on a call that doesn’t demand our active attention, this multitasking behavior ultimately leads to our inability to devote our full attention to a specific task. Depending on the multiple tasks being attempted, the result of this can be somewhere between humbling/embarrassing to tragic.

As easy as it can be to get caught up in multitasking, it begs the question: “What (or who) deserves my full attention now?” The more tasks we try to do at the same time, the less we actually accomplish for any of those tasks.

Focus on less so you can be excellent at more. If you need help with your CRE goals, Ask EBIZ.